Respiratory BEAUTY

There is a distinct difference between those who wear beauty and those who breathe it. 

 One way a girl can wear it is through makeup… this requires reapplication and fixation; it can be smeared, smudged, and will only last so long; it is not genuine. However, one can never breathe too much. It is a physical dance of the lungs achieved without thinking or trying.

In the opposite way genuine beauty is effortlessly thriving, artificial beauty is constantly striving.

God designed us as humans to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. In other words, we inhale life and exhale life back to other things such as plants… which in turn produce more oxygen to give back for us to breathe in.
God is the inventor of breathing. But He is also the CREATOR, author, and definition of BEAUTY.
If we are INHALING His beauty, we will naturally EXHALE that beauty to others around us. In the same way breathing is not a forced process, neither is being beautiful.

Just like the Carbon Dioxide we breathe out gives life to pretty pink flowers, so does the beauty we breathe out from our Creator. It has the power to GIVE LIFE and spread the beauty we've received.


If we never exhale that which we have inhaled, we will suffocate and die. Therefore, when we take in all of God’s goodness, truths, and wisdom (beauty), and keep it to ourselves, we too will suffocate in our selfishness.

Just like the natural flow of the respiratory cycle, so is the cycle of our beauty.

We take IN God’s love and grace through the senses of the body, and then must give it OUT from the senses of the heart.

So breathe in God’s grace, and exhale His goodness to all living things around you. The most beautiful people I have ever met are so beautiful because they are breathing in and out more than just oxygen; they aren’t holding their breath terrified of losing all the beauty they’ve experienced... they freely let it flow out of them.
All of us, especially as women, desire to be beautiful, and the best place to start is by going to the One who defined it and encompasses everything it is.

Living in what IS; Instead of what WAS

     Whenever I start to think about TIME, my mind gets blown to pieces. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… I was just living in the present while I typed during those five seconds, but now they’re in the past and I have another five seconds in front of me called the future. Such a simple concept right?

Lately I’ve been convicted about living in the PRESENT. Well isn’t it impossible NOT to? Yes, unfortunately Back to the Future is a fictional movie, and time machines still are not real. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t dwell in the past, or get distracted by hopes of the future.

    What is the ultimate problem of not living life to the fullest RIGHT NOW? First, look at the danger of living in the past. In moments when you dwell in the past, you are choosing to remain in a state of that which you cannot change. Whatever parts of your past you find your brain wandering to the most, will dictate the way you feel about yourself, your relationships, and the world around you. Whether the past brings feelings of shame, guilt, worthlessness, stupidity, hurt, anger, or confusion, when you choose to reside there, you are denying yourself the right to fully LIVE now because you are believing in whatever bondage you are allowing yourself to hold onto. The potential God has given us is held back in a locked cage when we keep retracing our steps through how things used to be. Don’t walk backwards when you were designed to walk forward. There’s a reason we naturally walk FORWARD in our everyday lives; yeah walking backwards can be fun for a bit, until you run into everyone around you and miss what’s in front of you.

     I always picture pieces of my past in a giant bag behind me where all the weights of memories and scars of hurt are thrown into; each one adding heavy weight into the bag that I must carry behind me as I travel forward. But simple laws of science would tell me that this will decrease my ability to move forward faster and stronger. Also, the whole time I’m moving forward, rather than thinking about where I am heading, my mind is completely consumed by the weight on my back that makes my progression seem impossible. I’m focused far more on my self-induced disability than my God-given capability.

    When we choose to live this way, we are completely discounting what Jesus did on the cross. He came to take our bags FOR us. The good and the bad, all of it HE took upon HIS back, so that we wouldn’t have to carry it. Cliché? Yeah maybe. But the funny thing to me about cliché’s is that everybody knows them, but who actually LIVES them?

Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God.”

    A friend of mine told me that in Hebrew, the word “still” literally translates into “let go”. What a beautiful reminder of our role. We’re not required to HOLD ONTO everything we did, got done to us, or went through, we’re required to LET IT GO.

The Neverending Chase

Jeremiah 30:7 “It will be a definite time of trouble—yet in the end, they will be saved.”

     I’ve been reading through the book of Jeremiah and it is one of my favorite books I’ve ever read. Throughout the entire book God constantly promises two things: Destruction  BUT also, Restoration. There is always going to be chaos, but He always PROMISES His goodness to shine through in the end. Israel is going through famine and slavery and persecution of every kind because of their wickedness and refusal to obey God. So because of their own sin, they are punished.

EVEN THOUGH GOD CONSTANTLY TELLS HIS PEOPLE INUMERABLE TIMES TO TURN FROM THEIR OWN SELFISH DESIRES, AND RUN BACK INTO HIS ARMS, THEY DON’T LISTEN.

How many times do we do that? The moment I feel like I’ve really conquered something that’s a struggle for me in my life, about two seconds later I realize I’m right back where I was struggling with something else. I sometimes feel like no matter how hard I pursue God’s will above my own, selfishness seems to feed its way to my actions through my heart. But no matter how lost, broken, sin-covered, worthless I may feel , God’s fighting pursuit of my heart always amazes me.

Not only did he DIE to win over our hearts, but He fights for them day in and day out by his unyielding pursuing. Just like the Israelites KNEW God’s plan was better yet still did what THEY wanted, I believe we struggle in the same way because we are impatient and we don’t trust that HIS plan’s perfection is ultimately true. But no matter how many times we turn our backs on our Creator, He never turns His. In fact, He is running towards us the whole time; we just keep running away. Maybe sometimes we turn around in our jog and get a tiny glimpse of the truth He promises, but we don’t want to stop running, because we have for so long that there doesn’t even seem to be a point in turning around now. But that’s just it, God will never stop chasing you. So you’re running a never-ending and useless race that gets you nowhere but even more lost and disappointed and broken then when you started on what you thought was what you wanted.

It’s never too late to turn around and run the other direction; only this time with God holding your hand rather than reaching for it.

God never stops chasing our hearts. I think of times when I’ve been most desperate, and he ALWAYS gives a reminder that assures me He is STILL there fighting for me.

He gives us things like sunsets, sunshine, butterflies, an encouraging truth, sparkly snow, laughter, beautiful music, the smell of coffee, a crackling fireplace, and cute little baby penguins (those are some of my personal faves) to softly whisper that He is still there and He’s never going to give up on us like all those around us that might. He never stops chasing you so stop running away because eventually, you’re gonna run out of breath.

1 Peter 4:19 "So if you're suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will  NEVER fail you."

Band-aids and Aspirin versus a Miracle Cure

Since being in college, I’ve learned one of the most important lessons that I ever could learn in my life. But I truly believe that you can know all the knowledge that you want in your brain, but until you experience it firsthand, you can’t believe it in your heart.

                After experiencing quite a bit of crap in my first semester of college, I’ve learned that apart from pain, there really isn’t a better teacher. In complacent stages of life that are easy as 1-2-3, what answer do we need? None. No question is being asked because there is no equation that needs a formula. It’s as simple as when you don’t have math homework you obviously aren’t going to create problems for yourself to solve. (If this is you, please find help… Or go become a math teacher please.)

                How else do we seek out the right answer more earnestly than when we’re hurting? Cause let’s face it, hurting sucks. We don’t generally as humans look forward to losing our job, being dumped, getting betrayed, or abused—we actually avoid those things at all costs. What happens when it comes our way? We want it out. ASAP.

We medicate our problem. We start that desperate search for a cure, or at least some kind of heart aspirin that can hold us over for a little while until the pain returns and we pop in a different brand. But what’s the problem with medicine? It always runs out eventually and is only temporary.

This cycle is something that’s become very real to me in my own life as I step back and watch how I handle pain and hurt. What do I do the second that I’m hurting? That which I know will bring me some level of comfort. I love being around people and interacting and laughing and doing all those extrovert-ish things us extroverts love to do. So if a person hurts me, I look for a different person to cure it. Just like I’ve seen play out in others’ lives of those close to me, if a boy or girl breaks their heart, the general reaction is to look for a different one to mend it back together. Now call me crazy but I’m pretty sure that is a vicious cycle of using each other. What sucks about using each other as medication?

People are just as lost, hurting, and searching for a cure as you and I. So when we look for the solution in other people, we will always be let down because they too, are hoping YOU are the antidote and just maybe, you’ll be different than the rest. But if they’re thinking the same thing you are, I don’t think either of you will find that cure you’re looking for.

In the words of many wise people, and Miley Cyrus, Nobody’s Perfect. How many times ya gotta hear that phrase in your lifetime you’re probably thinking… But no really. Stop and think about this. If the person you’re looking to heal your brokenness is just as broken as you, when will you ever find what you’re looking for? This has become unbelievably real to me over the last year.

The only perfect human on this entire planet that has ever lived was Jesus. I believe that to be true. And what hope there is in that fact! I CAN turn to him to cure my incurable problem; because HE alone will not let me down like every other uncured and broken person. Simple idea, crazy hard lifestyle to live out. Next time you’re hurting, step back and see what your first desire, thought, or inclination is to do… Most likely you’ll be surprised you turn to something or someone that is just as imperfect and broken as you and the pain that is plaguing you. Instead, actively CHOOSE to turn to Christ. Don’t just passively acknowledge His existence, but truly make HIM your CURE. He is a miracle cure not a temporary aspirin. You’ll be amazed at the difference of a healed heart and one with a band aid over top.

Love and Blessings!

Han :)